IMRAD

Abstract

Becoming involved in Greek Life can have a huge effect on a person’s college experience. The goal of the research I conducted was in order to find out if getting involved in Greek Life on University of Louisville’s campus would be beneficial in life after college. I sent a survey out on surveymonkey and posted it to my facebook page in order to receive feedback from a diverse group of students and professionals. In addition to this I gave a paper copy to random University of Louisville students in order to get a better understanding of my university’s view on Greek Life. Through these surveys, I found that the majority of University of Louisville students have a positive outlook on Greek Life, and many people out of college with work experience say being involved in Greek Life has benefitted them. As a result, I think many people would find benefit from becoming involved in Greek Life.

Introduction

Greek Life can be extremely beneficial to those willing to try it. Greek Life, however, can be extremely time- constraining and, depending on the organization, can be very costly. Also, at some colleges, Fraternities and Sororities are convicted of hazing and too much drinking and partying. So the question is: can joining Greek life benefit you? USA today says that “85% of Fortune 500 executives were a part of Greek life…and college graduation rates are 20% higher among Greeks than non-Greeks”( http://college.usatoday.com/2012/05/08/examining-the-benefits-of-greek-life/ ). The majority of Greek organizations were formed as a way to commit a group to helping others through their philanthropy and today still are putting forth efforts through philanthropy events.  Greek involvement is not always a good thing; “since 1975, there has been at least one hazing-induced death per year across college campuses” (http://college.usatoday.com/2012/05/08/examining-the-benefits-of-greek-life/). However, the University of Louisville has a very strict no-hazing policy, and the Greek life here is not strict on loyalty to the organization, meaning one does not get punished for speaking to members outside of their affiliated chapter. So now the question is further narrowed: does being involved in Greek life at the University of Louisville benefit students?

Methods

Participants:

            I focused on two main groups for my survey: students at the University of Louisville and members of the working population, who have graduated from college.

Procedures:

            I questioned the members of my survey over if they are, or ever have been, involved in Greek life, if they supported the idea of Greek life, and if they would recommend Greek life to others. I then posted this survey to my Facebook wall, in order to get a wider age range. I also handed this survey to students in the library in order to get a random University of Louisville students’ perspective.

Data Analysis:

            From this survey, I found that the majority of people involved in Greek life at the University of Louisville speak very highly of it. They are happy with their involvement, think its benefits them both socially and academically, and they would encourage others to participate as well. The majority of the members of the working class who were involved in Greek life during their college time say that being involved in Greek life has helped them in their job. The majority of the participants who dropped out of Greek life said they dropped because either they could not afford it or did not have grades that met the grade requirement. However, the majority of these participants still said they would recommend Greek life. The participants who were never involved in Greek life tended to have no opinion on whether Greek life was beneficial or not.

Results

           

Through this study, I have found that, on the campus of the University of Louisville, Greek life tends not to have a bad connotation. The University of Louisville is known for having strict hazing rules, and even the simplest form of hazing receives punishment. Because of this, I believe that many people at this establishment look highly upon Greek life. We go to a school that shares stories of the good work done by the Greek life, and because of this, not many people are against it.

Discussion

            This study was made in order to see if there is a positive or negative outlook on Greek life at the University of Louisville, and if it can benefit you later on in life. The only problem I think I had was not getting enough people. If I had a way to get off campus and survey more working adults, I think this survey could have been better. I think there can be a very negative connotation with Greek life in general, but the strict rules the University of Louisville has for Greek life breaks most of those stereotypes.

            Future studies that could be done would be going into the fraternities and sororities and seeing how happy those students are verses the students outside of Greek life. That way you could see if Greek life helps an individual. The study I performed talks more about the Greek system as a single unit. You could also look into each individual fraternity and sorority and see which ones have the happiest members or the  most successful members.